Nature Exploration: Is There a “Bird Celebrity” in Your Community?

This is an original children’s nature book that， through a child’s perspective and exquisite hand-drawn illustrations， reveals the living environment and survival skills of 20 species of China’s endemic wild animals and plants， such as the silver-throated long-tailed tit， jade-banded phoenix butterflies， and Chinese fever vine. The book leads children to immerse themselves in observing and thinking about the close connection between species in an ecosystem， grasp the rules of species coexistence， and learn to live in harmony with nature.

Nature Exploration: Is There a “Bird Celebrity” in Your Community?

Written by Zhong Jia， Yuan Ping

Illustrated by Li Xiaodong

New Century Publishing House

May 2023

45.00 (CNY)

Zhong Jia

Zhong Jia， a senior editor of the overseas edition of the People’s Daily before his retirement， has been in the journalism industry for 30 years and won the second prize of the China Journalism Award and the title of National Outstanding Journalist. His books have won the China Outstanding Publication Award， the National Outstanding Science Works Award， and the Bing Xin Children’s Book Award.

Yuan Ping

Yuan Ping is a member of Jiangsu Science Writers Association， a contributing author of Popular Science， a columnist of Children’s Stories Pictorial， a columnist of Children’s 100 magazine， and an editor of China Bird Watch.

Li Xiaodong

Li Xiaodong， an illustrator and insect and bird watching enthusiast， is now committed to the creation of natural picture books and naturalist illustrations， focusing on plants， insects， and bird paintings.

Great Spotted Woodpecker: Woodpeckers and Trees

First， we went to the Temple of Heaven Park in Beijing. This is the place where emperors used to offer sacrifices to the heavens， but now it is a world-renowned classical architectural garden with thousands of domestic and foreign tourists every day.

Mirror， will there be wild animals in the Temple of Heaven?

Of course!

Have you ever seen a woodpecker?

Yes， a woodpecker is a “forest doctor” who catches insects under the bark of trees.

What else?

Woodpeckers make nests and babies.

Uh-huh. Remember to keep your distance from birds. Don’t get too close to them if you can see them clearly with binoculars!

Mirror， there’s a woodpecker on the ground! What’s it doing on the grass? Shouldn’t it be in a tree?

Watch it first. Hey， it’s flying under a tree in the distance. Did you get the binoculars right? It’s still “perving.”

I see it. It’s back! ... It’s back!

It’s so strange， and it goes back and forth several times. Let’s wait and see.

It flew away， and we went over to check it out!

First， go to the nearby meadow. Oh， there are a few empty pine cones.

Don’t run in a hurry!

Mirror， please come quickly under this tree. Look! Black and shiny old tree roots are exposed on the ground， and the pit depression has a pile of broken pine nuts’ shells!

It turns out that the woodpecker pecks out the pine nuts from the pine cones and carries them to the old tree roots to crack them and eat the nuts!

Isn’t a woodpecker a worm eater? Why do they eat pine nuts?

The book says that in the winter in the north， woodpeckers eat the seeds of fat-laden plants.

Oh， I see! Woodpeckers are using the old tree roots against the smooth exterior of the pine nut shells!

Woodpeckers will also use trees to fall in love!

Huh? How?

It was April， and I heard a series of taps in the shade.

I knew that the woodpeckers were “l(fā)ooking for a mate.” They are not good singers， so they hit the trees with their long beaks to make a series of loud sounds to show that their beaks are powerful.

Yes， as long as they have good beaks， they can support their families， whether they are digging holes or eating. But do you know what makes this “clacking” sound?

Isn’t it a continuous pecking? Well， it doesn’t seem to be that fast.

I raised my binoculars and followed the sound and saw a great spotted woodpecker， the back of its head red， a boy. It was lying on its back on a horizontal side branch of a large tree， tapping a short， bare vertical branch.

Huh? Not a tree trunk?

Yeah， that’s the first time I’ve seen it， too， and the “clack clack clack clack” comes from the vibration of the short branch when it’s pounded!

Ah， so woodpeckers use resonance!

At that moment， a Great Spotted Woodpecker came from another tree to the right， with no red on the back of its head; it was a girl. She also chooses a short branch， and when she taps on it， the sound is muffled. A new one， and this time， it clicks loudly， and she’s satisfied. The male woodpecker in the tree across the street made a series of striking sounds， followed by a series of sounds from the female woodpecker in response. The male waited for a while， then struck again， and the female heard it and struck again right after him.

Haha! That’s how they fall in love?

Anyway， each guarded the short branch in front of them， and took turns striking sounds on the branches.

What happened?

I soon realized that they had different rhythms. The male always waited for a while before continuing the next strike. The female was quick; not only did she follow closely， but she also struck twice in a row. The next round， the male didn’t respond for a long time. The female went to the side to peck at something， then returned to the short branch—but the male flew away.

Yikes， impatient and inattentive， I guess that’s what the males think. And then later?

From a long way away came the sound of continuous striking by the males， but the females remained still and didn’t chase after them.

Haha， the females were sad.

We all know the saying， “You reap what you sow，” but have you ever heard the saying， “You plant a lemon and get a butterfly”?

Huh? Tell me about it!

Jade Ribbon Butterfly Flower: Butterflies“Grown”in Flower Pots

In May in Nanjing， there was a Jade Crested Butterfly on my balcony. It stopped at various potted plants and finally circled around the lemon tree. The tree grew from a lemon seed dropped in a pot last year， and the leaves have a nice smell.

Does it like the aroma of lemon leaves?

Suddenly， this Jade Crested Butterfly bucked at the leaves. When the butterfly flew away， I rushed to check it out. There was a yellow egg the size of a rapeseed on the tenderest leaflet at the tip of the tree. I counted a dozen of them， left， right， up and down.

Oh， I don’t know when it flew there and laid so many eggs.

After a few days， the yellow eggs turned black. When I woke up one morning， I saw a few tiny black dots so small that I could hardly see them.

Are the eggs of the Jade Crested Butterfly hatching? Doesn’t it need to incubate the eggs like the parents?

Well， the mom just lays the eggs on the host plant， and the rest is up to the sky!

Let’s see what the larvae look like!

I took a picture of the first instar larva with a macro camera， and when I enlarged the picture， it looked like a little hedgehog with tiny spines all over its body. Curious， I touched it with my hand， but it didn’t stick.

Is it just a scarecrow?

It was lying motionless on the lemon leaf and didn’t eat anything. I knew that it would eat its eggshell when it came out.

It’s its own food!

The next morning， there was a tiny gap in the lemon leaf. It seems to have grown a little. Other leaves are also full of little dots. Every morning， I’d check to see if they’d grown. One day， I realized they had changed.

What did they look like? Not “hedgehogs”?

They’ve become bird droppings， so the birds won’t eat them.

They’re really something!

These “bird droppings” are much more edible than “hedgehogs，” and some of them gradually turn into green “big-headed dolls.” It’s amazing!

It’s really amazing! Is the Jade Crested Butterfly a family of magicians?

The “big headed doll” has two big eyes on its head. I studied them for half a day before I realized that they were fake， like they had been painted on.

Oh， are they also for scaring the enemy?

Yes! There are many different ways to scare predators， but the purpose is to announce that “I am very powerful; don’t eat me!” For example， if you touch a “big headed doll” with your hand， two red horns of stinky glands will stick out from its head， which look like a snake fluttering its tongue and emits a strange smell.

Haha， this is also a kind of weapon used to scare natural enemies.

Butterfly’s mom only cares about laying eggs， and there will always be ones that survive if she lays enough eggs. She doesn’t care if there are enough leaves here to feed her children. My lemon tree is so small that if we let nature take its course， the larvae will soon starve to death.

Should we save them? How?

Of course we have to save them， who let the butterfly mom give birth to her babies in my lemon tree. There is a big orange tree in the neighborhood. I picked orange leaves， and I took these “bird droppings” and “big-headed dolls” down from the lemon tree and put them into a box with the orange leaves， just like raising silkworms.

The host plants of the Jade Crested butterfly are from the Brassicaceae family. Oranges and lemons belong to this family， right?

That’s right! The “big-headed dolls” in the box have eaten their fill and become motionless chrysalises.

Are they boys or girls?

We won’t know until they fly out! One morning， I finally saw the Jade Crested Butterfly flying in my room. The black wings lined with white dots were the handsome males， and the back wings with red spots were the females. They flew out the window. These are butterflies grown in my flower pots!

Mirror， you’re great! Grow a lemon and see the life of a butterfly with your own eyes!